Beet puller and topper.



BEET FULLER AND TOPPER. APPLICATIBI FILED IAI. 2l. Illll.

1,279,251. y Pammds'lit, 17,1918 V v v v 2 S'EHMEE l.

mamar/Wea WITNESSES ATTORNEY f INVENTOH l lowing is a specification.

' the line 8-4-3 of ends of whereas their' front ends 'are se aratedtoj p as To all whom it ma concern:

tops,

4 p Other objects will ap lowing specification, an to the drawings, wherein 'ing a bevel gear` 14 ,UNiTEnTATES PATENT onirica.

fJ. entranti., or noorins'roir, more mi" riruma im Terran.

1,279,251, speoiieetion of Letters lmpt. Patented Sept. 17, 1918.

isis.A serial in. 225,013.

application med laren 87,

. Be it known t at'I Wriimm J. Caniimu., a citizen of thellnited States, `residat Hoo eston, inthe county of Ver in mion and tate of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Beet Pullers and Toppers, of which the folrelates to .harvesterS, and more lparticularly it is a machine intended to pu beets from the ground,:cut oli their and deliver their bodies and their tops This invention e object of the invention is 'to simplify a machine of this type and to produce a structure in .which vproper disposition is made of the parte mentioned and also of the leaves and dirt. l

ear from the folreference is made Figure 1is a side elevation of this machine complete,

Fig. 2is a lan view thereof,

Fig. 3ds a on 'tudinal sectional detail on i 2,and"V p Fi 4 is asma sectional detail on the linei. n of Fig. 2.

The main framel 1 is supported `by front' wheels 2V and has at its 'front end a clevis. '3 or other dev-ice by which the draft is at- ,v-tached. Near lits rear end the frame is mounted on aJcranked axle 4- Vcarrying the main wheels 5, andthe position4 ofthis axle may. be 'set bymeansof a hand lever 6 movin `gover atoothed sector 7 alongside the Vdrivers seat" 8 as usual.

The gathering devices, which 'in the resent instance are means for pulling'the eets 40 outof the und, are carried atthe left forward en of this framework. This mechanismincludes two fluted rollers 10 and 11;, the former standing alongside the frame and arallel therewith and the latter `standing o liqie to the roller 10 so that theirear t ese rollers vmerely tqucheach jother trunnions'at this the frameworlr` ars 18, one of which is on a'shaft "carryinj a. manner presen the arrow? V' roller 11,- andv whose function is to in anfarchf v12,y carried-- whicliire'ceives its, ower tly to-he descr the.

for 'the reary trunnions, andthe arch 12,"

a deilecto'rplate `16 'which and inward over the outer p direct the beet tops and, 'eventually the beet bodies inward over theimier roller for a purpose iet to appear. The arch 12 -is of sullicient eight to pass over the to s of growing beets, and the machine is riven along a row of these tops Vindicated by the cross marks in Fig. 2.

The beets' fall onto conveyer 20 whose upper si e moves to the are connectedrly inclines upwa rear as shown and some ofthe leaves and much of the dirt ma fall over onto a metal' platform 21 .carri bythe framework' to th e right side of the'conveyer as seen in Fig. -2. The conveyerpasses around rollerswhereof the rearmost is fixed on ashaft 23 ,ournaled across vthe main frame, and the an a ron or endless' eft end .of this shaft carries "a bevel ar 24 meshing with ,the bevel gear 14 a ove described. The right end of' said `shaft is connected by sprocket wheeland chain 25 with apair of intermeshing gear 26, and one of the latter carries -a sprocket wheel connected by a chain 27 with a driving sprocket 28 on the hub of one of the main wheels 5. Bv'this simple means ower is communicated from this wheel as t e arrows in Fig. 1V indicate, and the rotation of tliemain shaft23 drives the gathering mechanism above described, the apron or conveyer 20 already lreferred to, and other elements yetfto bedescribed.

f In rear of the apron 20 is another endless conveyer or apron 30 which inclines upward and rearward and therefore may be called. an elevator, and the apron or carrier 20` deliversto theapron' or elevator 30. The

latter moves around rollers, one of which stands adjacent the rear roller of the apron 20 and has itstrunnion connected bv gearing 31 with the main'shaft 23 so that the 'flipper stretch of the elevator' moves to the Fig. 2. The e yUslats- 32 on this elevator cause the. beet rear as shown b the-arrowin' bodie'sftoulie thereon in the position indicated. in Adotted line'sin this view. Just toi'theright of the elevatoris another endless "apronor .belt 34 mounted on "rollers y which are journaled in the Vframework insuch manner that the belt diverges slightl V11.0

ico

from .front to' rear as it moves upwar g alongsidethe elevator. The'trunnon 'ofthe forward roller is connected by Cgearing to the main shaft 23 so that the irection of movement of the upper stretch of this belt -is as indicated by the arrow in Fi 2. It

is on. this belt that the tops of the eets lie as they move upward and rearward, their bodies resting meanwhile on the elevator' and a ainst its slats as h s just been stated, and o viously the rear end of the belt should be about' on a level with the rear end of the elevator, or if anything a little below the level thereof. A receptacle may be earried on or hung beneathl the framework of this machine undervthe rear end of the elevator and onto it the beets will drop, but the tops may be allowed to fall ofll the rear end of the belt onto the round where they become fertilizer 4when t ey are worked in and permitted to decay.

The space between the elevator and belt 'is bridged over by a narrow sheet of metal as indicated at 40, and disposed in a longitudinal slot 41 therein is a disk or cutter 42 whose edge may be plain as shown or of other configuration. The disk .preferably has its supportat 43, in a side bar 44 which is slotted as at 45 so that it may be ad'usted entire in itsv reference to the main and the disk will be adjusted with it. y

Now when the machine is driven along a row of plants as indicated by the cross mark ing the beet tops, then the neck, and

in Fig. 2, the gathering mechanism draws the `beet bodies from the ground, and the deleotor plate 16 throws them forcibly over.

onto the conveyer 2O and their tops fall onto the platform 21 which knocks oil some of the leaves and much of the dirt. Meanwhile the and both proceed on their divergent way, the beet probably'falling into a receptacle on the main frame or possibly falling into a receptacle carried by another vehicle which is driven behind or trails behind the machine described. The to s fall onto the ground and may become above suggested. The dirt and leaves upon the platform fallof, and the platform may be a trie'inclined so as to assist. Especial attention is called to the delector plate 16 and thefunction constantly performed by it. By.v meansv of its use, a pair of forwardly divergent rollers (especially if their bodies are iluted as shown) may be i'nade to gather beets of any size or sizes, the smaller ones passing: farther to the rear andthe larger 'ones contacting with the rollers at points farther forward as will-be clearly understood. The rotation of these rollers draws the beet bodies out of the-ground by nal y the upper portions of the-bodies themselves;

rame,

'transverse to the length of the machine; of rearwardly and upwardly divergent endless ertilizer inthe manner and if necessary the luting or ridges on the rollers may be made soft so as not to crush the beet bodies las they are forced out of' the earth. The deiiector plate turns the tops and then the bodies over onto the conveyer 2O and platform 2\1 in substantially the`position necessary to knock olf the dirt and leaves and permit the subsequent handling of the vegetable in a manner already described. This machine is extremely sim le, and therefore it is inexpensive and. within the reach of many beet growing farmers. It can be drawn by horse power or-'tractor power, and a great many small changes can be made without departing from the principle of my invention.

What I claim as new is 1. In a .beet harvester, the combination with gathering mechanism; of endless belts diverging slightly from each other at their rear ends, their front ends standing adjacent said mechanism whereby the beets and their tops are delivered onto saidbelts, and cutting mechanism between the rearv portions of the belts for severing the tops from the beets.

2. In a beet harvester, the combination with a gathering mechanism, and means for turning the gathered beets to a position elements constituting an elevator' and a belt for `the tops, a bridge between the inner edges of said belts, said bridge having a slot, anda cutter disposed within said slot. 3. In ai beet harvester, the combination with a gathering mechanism, and means for turning the gathered beets to a position transverse to the length of the machine; of an upwardly and rearwardly moving endlessl elevator havin .slats across it against which thebeet bodies lie, an upwardly and rearwardly moving belt adjacent one side'iof.

beetsV lie, a rotary 'cuttin disk disposed be 110; tween the elevator and .elt n'earvtheir delivery ends, a pivotal supportfor said disk, and means for adjusting the support ver tically. 4. n a beet'h-arvester, the combination 115 with an apron, a platform alongside'the same, and delivering and top ing mechanisms to which the apron dblivers; of. gathering mechanism along that side of the apron op osite said latform, the same com-1 120 rising orwardl'y divergent rollers, means or rotatin lthem upwardly and outwardly fromtheir inner sides,'and a delector late overlying the'outer roller and incline inward* toward the inner roller. 5. a beet puller, the combination with a framework mounted on wheels, and means for moving it forward; of a roller journaled in bearings along one side 'of-said frame, a bracket at the rear end of this roller and an 18o "5 standing over rollers oppositely.

arch at. its front end, a -ssoond roller journaled in the brasket and arch and diverging K forward from said rst roller, ai dllbor plate carried b f thebracket and arch and elast named roller nmlA in- `c1ined`1nwnrd,"and ymeans for rotating the inpreaeno `two r 

